Design and Planning of Campaigns and Operations in the Twenty-First Century

The premise of this study paper is that operational art and strategy are dynamic and contingent practices. Talent, refined by dedicated study of war and warfare, are the critical prerequisites for capable operational artists and strategists. General principles, rules derived from them, and systems based on these rules have only limited value for strategy and operational art. In fact, they may even serve to undermine the practices of operational art and strategy because prescribed principles, rules and systems diminish the perceived relevance and importance of historical study, inhibit the application of judgement and innovation in the planning process, and marginalise the value of natural talent in decision-making in complex contexts.